Red Bull Racing F1 - A fantastic place to start ... 28.03.2009: AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING Car 15 SEBASTIAN VETTEL, Position 3rd It's been a difficult two days leading up to qualifying. I only had the pleasure of completing one lap in the first practice, then I made a mistake in the second, which

AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING

Car 15 SEBASTIAN VETTEL, Position 3rd
It's been a difficult two days leading up to qualifying. I only had the pleasure of completing  one  lap  in  the  first  practice,  then  I  made  a  mistake  in  the  second, which meant we couldn't run through our programme. Then we had a failure this morning,  which  cost  us  some  track  time,  so  it's  been  anything  but  ideal!

Nevertheless, I think we pulled everything together; we've been looking deeply at the data and trying to prepare well for qualifying. I think we succeeded, so thanks to  everyone.  We  had  a  tough  winter  and  I've  been  surprised  how  close  the feeling in the car  is to  last year.

With all the regulation  changes it's  impressive what  all  the  people  have  done  -  it's  very  tight  at  the  front  of  the  grid  and  all through the midfield. At times we have even wondered if we would make it to Q2, so  now  we  are  third  on  the  second  row  of  the  grid,  I'm  looking  forward  to tomorrow. This is for sure a good starting point."

Car 14 MARK WEBBER, Position 10th
"I'm  not  rapped  with  my  last  lap.  My  previous  flying  laps  had  gone  well,  so  I would  have  liked  a  better  result,  but  that's  where  we  are  so  we'll  try  to  make something from the race. The bumps were quite bad in Turn nine on the final run. The team's done a good job and we've worked well through our programme over the winter. It's a shame I didn't get the best time in qualifying, but we'll see how we go from there tomorrow."


CHRISTIAN HORNER, Team Principal: "It was a great team effort today and we have two cars in the top ten. After losing some track time this morning, Sebastian has done a great job. Third is a fantastic place to start the first Grand Prix and he's the nearest car to the super-quick Brawns. I think we can enjoy a good race tomorrow. After all that Mark has been through in the last few months, recovering from  a  broken  leg,  I  think  he  put  in  an  excellent  performance  today.  A  small mistake  on  his  final  lap  in  such  a  tight  grid  cost  him  several  positions,  but  I'm sure he will have a strong race tomorrow."

FABRICE  LOM,  Renault,  Principal  Engineer  Track  Support:  "After  the  last test, we didn't know where we were in terms of pace, so it's great to see that we are very near the front. Third is very good and Mark made some fantastic laps and showed good pace, so I'm positive for tomorrow. I'm happy and the engine is working fine. I have sadness for Pierre-Emeric and want to remember him. I think about him, especially in this moment of qualifying, when he was so focused and enthusiastic. So, we think about him and let's see for tomorrow."

Practice 3
Mark Webber: P7, Best Time: 1:26.355, Laps: 16
Sebastian Vettel, P13, Best Time: 1:27.009, Laps: 12


- Britta Roeske, Photo Bridgestone -